Shadowboxer

Here's just a little collage of some pictures I've found inspiring. You can click on it for a larger view. Photos are from all over the internet.

This weekend Olivia and I went over to the Boston Public Library to see a film screening of a documentary called Taking Root, which is about the work of Nobel Peace Prize winner, Wangari Mathaai. About 30 years ago Mathaai started encouraging the women of Kenya to start planting trees in order to restore their damaged environment and lack of resources. In 1977 she founded the Green Belt Movement, which started a revolution of sorts in Kenya. Dictator Moi tried to stop her, and even sent in police to end her peaceful protests, beating her into a coma. He denied her access to lands where she wished to plant trees, and continued to add to the copious amount of deforestation in Kenya. In 2002 his rule ended, and since then 40 million trees have been planted with the help of the Kenyan government. Wangari Mathaai was also the first woman in East Africa to earn her Ph.D., after winning a scholarship to study in the U.S. It really was a beautiful story, and if you'd like to see it, it will be on April 15 at 8pm on WGBH World and April 26 at 9pm on WGBH 44 (I believe that's PBS).

Also, I was walking home from grocery shopping with Olivia, actually, struggling would be a more fitting word, when this woman stopped me on the sidewalk. She said, "Can I ask you a question? What do you call this style?" I looked down at was I was wearing and found I was at a loss for words. "I don't really no," I replied. "Well, is it retro, vintage, Sweeny Todd..?" I was really surprised when she threw Sweeny Todd in there, but also very happy at the same time. "I guess it's a mix of vintage and urban wear.." And then she went on to tell me she really liked it and found it very inspiring, which was cool..I dunno, those kinds of things just mean a lot to me. I thought it was really nice and rather unexpected.

-t

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